Landscaping companies in Cambridge could must commerce of their gas-powered leaf blowers for electrical options a 12 months prior to the City Council initially focused, relying on a vote looming in December.
The council’s Ordinance Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to shorten the gradual phase-out of gas-powered leaf blowers for industrial and municipal makes use of to 2026 from 2027.
Residents can be prohibited from utilizing the garden gear beginning in March 2025 beneath the request which the City Council is more likely to vote on by the tip of the 12 months – the identical timeline first proposed.
Councilor Patricia Nolan, who has spearheaded the proposal on the Health and Environment Committee, highlighted how the 2025-26 timeframe is being adopted in Arlington, Belmont and Lexington, close by municipalities which have voted for bans on gas-powered leaf blowers.
“If I’m a landscaping company I’m already going to have to service Lexington, Arlington and Belmont by 2026, so why wouldn’t I be able to do that in Cambridge as well,” Nolan stated Tuesday.
“Maintaining the same timeline for commercial and municipal use allows the city to work toward its goal of phasing out gas-powered leaf blowing equipment in a manner that treats all commercial operators the same,” she added.
Nolan identified how California can be implementing a ban on the sale of latest gas-powered leaf blowers and garden mowers beginning in 2024 and moveable turbines by 2028. Washington D.C. did away with the gear final 12 months, she added.
A neighborhood consultant from Mothers Out Front expressed help for transferring the ban as much as 2026 in Cambridge but additionally some considerations.
“But that’s still more than two years away,” she stated. “In our opinion, even that is not soon enough to address the environmental and public health dangers posed by gas-powered landscaping equipment.”
In 2020, garden and backyard gear spewed an estimated 614,932 tons of carbon dioxide in Massachusetts – an quantity equal to the air pollution from 135,371 typical automobiles, in accordance with an October report carried out by MASSPIRG, a progressive political suppose tank.
Officials and advocates additionally level to analysis that exhibits how gas-powered garden gear is a “well-known contributor to heart and lung disease, stroke, and premature death.”
In 2019, town proposed a ban on all leaf blowers however resistance from residents and landscapers halted the trouble.
The metropolis’s Department of Public Works is encouraging, if the ban is accepted, for officers to contemplate providing monetary help the place attainable. A MassSave incentive initiative gives residential battery-powered garden gear rebates as much as $75 for a lawnmower and $30 for different instruments.
Gas-powered leaf blowers are far more most well-liked as a result of they’re “known for superior power and performance” when it comes to effectivity, Patrick Lane, a analysis assistant for the Cambridge Housing Authority wrote in a letter to the City Council final week.
Electric choices, however, “fall short in comparison, leading to longer work hours and decreased productivity,” he added.
“While we share the city’s commitment to a cleaner and quieter environment,” Lane wrote, “we believe that a blanket ban on gas-powered leaf blowers may have unintended consequences for our operations and the communities we serve.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”